Last night Mike Carney attended the game between the Whale and the Sound Tigers. Below is his account of what happened and a report on some of the players. If you watch the Whale, in person or on the TV/computer and would like to contribute, please EMAIL Adam.

Whale were shutout 3-0 by Bridgeport. Bit of a dud of a game. The Whale never got any sustained offensive pressure nor any flow with the puck. Power Playcouldn’t generate any offense, a lot of one shot then the puck gets cleared. There is a lot of individual talent on the squad but they cant seem to put it together. I was sitting next to a season ticket holder and he said its been this way all season, disappointing.

That being said, Bridgeport was solid and their goalie played exceptionally, when the Whale did get something going. He robbed the few quality scoring chances they had.

Kreider is being doubled whenever he is on the ice and the defense always knows where he is. They are not letting him get behind them. He played well and I would guess he had the most ice time among forwards. He was able to display his blinding speed through the neutral zone a few times but ended with nothing. The frustration was clearly on his face after a few shifts.

Christian Thomas had a few good shots, got to open spaces, but couldn’t finish any of them. But boy can he shoot it. On the bench he was always listening to the coaching staff had to say.

I didn’t notice Ryan Bourque that much. He threw one good hit in the neutral zone that caused a turnover and an odd man rush.

McIlrath, in his first game back, absolutely CRUSHED a guy on the far boards but it reesulted in an elbowing penalty. He then fought as soon as
he stepped out of the box. He was solid on D all game delivering a few big hits. Whenever he jumped the boards there was a buzz in the building waiting for him to put someone through the glass. He will be a Garden favorite for sure. He is a monster. Beukeboom is clearly there to mentor McIlrath, after every shift they were talking on the bench.